Correlation between flow-sensitive alternating inversion recovery perfusion imaging with different inversion times and cerebral flow reserve evaluated by single-photon-emission computed tomography.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different inversion times (TIs) on flow-sensitive alternating inversion recovery (FAIR) perfusion imaging and compare them with the cerebral blood flow reserve evaluated by acetazolamide challenge using single-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT). The subjects were nine patients with unilateral obstruction of the internal carotid artery. The signal ratio (SR16/8) of two images with different TIs (1,600 ms and 800 ms) was calculated, and the cerebral blood flow reserve (CFR) was evaluated by the increase in the ratio of cerebral perfusion after administration of acetazolamide in the SPECT study. A reversed linear correlation ( r=0.75) was found between SR and CFR, indicating that differences of FAIR images with changes of TI will be affected by cerebral flow reserve.